Hermitage Genetics

Russian Demand for Irish Genetics.......

The demand for high health Hermitage gilts in Russia has been growing in the past year. The first contract was signed in November 2006 and since then over 15,000 animals have been shipped from Ireland direct to customers units in the Russian Federation. The first shipment of 852 gilts were flown to Moscow last December and subsequent shipments have all been delivered each month by road transport.

The Russian Agricultural sector has seen rapid expansion in recent years with the building of many new pig enterprises. The government has supported this expansion with competitive loans and favourable economic conditions for the Agricultural Sector.

Most of the units operate a Closed Herd GGP Programme, producing their own replacement females in the herd from a nucleus of purebred GGP/GP animals. Hermitage manage the breeding programme for the purebred nucleus and supply the BLUP values and Mate Selection Index. New lines will only be introduced to the closed herds through semen or embryo transfer.